The Grace of God
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 10964 |
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June 06, 2010 |
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 "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me." (1 Corinthians 15:10)
The apostle Paul was born of a good family and well-educated, and after accepting Jesus Christ he wrote many epistles of the New Testament. He performed a great power of reviving the dead, but confessed, "By the grace of God I am what I am" rather than to boast of himself. In the same way, there is nothing that we can gain without the grace of God. Let's look into the three kinds of grace of God we have to remember and give thanks for all the time.
First is the grace of salvation.
We cannot thank God enough for this grace of salvation even though we thank Him with tears every single day. It is the grace that we will remember on this earth until the Lord comes back as well as in the heavenly kingdom. Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." We were stained by sins, but God forgave us with His love and gave us redemption. He gave us life while we were destined to die, and He made us His children. He gave us the hope for the heavenly kingdom.
How much do you remember this grace during each moment of your daily lives, and how much thanks do you give to God for this grace? In the special Easter performances every year, many of you weep seeing Jesus taking the cross. As the sound of the scourging is heard, you feel like your heart is torn apart. When you hear the sound of the nails being hammered into Jesus' hands and feet, you feel like those nails are piercing your hearts, and you say you can't even watch it. It is this kind of confession of thanks that should be in your heart not only on special occasions, but throughout the entire year. I urge you in the name of the Lord that you will be able to confess to God everyday saying, "I give my life to the Lord who saved me and to the Father who loves me."
Second is the grace that enables you to understand the Word and pray.
After we receive the grace of salvation, our faith has to grow. Our faith also has to grow up from the faith of a child to the faith of a young man, and to that of a father. In order for our faith to grow up, we first have to realize our 'self' by the word of God. After we find out such things, we have to pray so we can receive the power to change ourselves according to the standards of God. We can live like children of God only when we understand the truth and change.
Today, there are so many people who say they believe in the Lord but cannot change themselves because they don't keep the Word and pray. They are same as before they accepted the Lord. They just live in sins just like worldly people. And yet, they do not even realize they shouldn't be living like that. They do not experience self realization, and even if they do, they don't have the strength to change, and thus they keep on living in sins. As they live like that, they suffer from tests and trials, and they face disasters just like unbelievers.
But in our church, you have an abundance of the Word of Life with which you can come to self-realization about yourself. You are taught very clearly about sin, righteousness, and judgment and you can understand even the most delicate forms of untruths in you. Also, our church's fire of prayer is never put out. Even new believers can soon receive the power of prayer if they just follow onward as they are guided.
God the Father keeps on teaching you the truth, and He gives you the strength to cast off sins whenever you pray. Even though you sometimes choose the wrong way looking at the world, He has been patiently waiting for you to change. Now, I hope you will not hesitate between two choices but always choose the truth. That is the way to pay back the grace of God and also the way for you to find happiness.
Third is the grace that lets you long for New Jerusalem.
When you didn't know the truth and were living in sins, you couldn't even think of Heaven. But God still loved you and forgave you of all sins and evil in you. He taught you the truth through the Word, and gave you the strength to change through your prayers so you could look up to Heaven.
But what God really wants to give you is not just the heavenly kingdom. He wants to give you the most beautiful place in Heaven, New Jerusalem. For this reason God gave you a lot of grace so you could long for New Jerusalem. Opening the spiritual eyes of many of you is one of those acts, giving you more hope. It was not just for you to see the spiritual realm. It was for you to really believe that there is a spiritual realm so you could cultivate sanctification of heart.
How much thanks do you give to God for that grace of letting you look up to such a glorious place? Do you increase that hope continually? I hope you will be filled with the hope of New Jerusalem every day. As said in Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen," I pray in the name of the Lord that you will gain the hope of New Jerusalem in reality.
I hope you will more deeply feel God's grace of saving you, and the grace of letting you understand the truth and change yourself, and the grace of giving you New Jerusalem. I pray in the name of the Lord that, in doing so, you will overcome this world by considering all fleshly things as rubbish, and march on towards New Jerusalem.
For additional information or to read the message's text in its entirety, please visit Manmin Central Church on the web at www. manmin. org, , select the "English" menu, and click on "Words of Life."
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